Life as a masters student tempered by workload

Walking past the bustling student bar after class, I glanced inside and felt like I was in a scene from It's a Wonderful Life, where my guardian angel was showing me glimpses of the previous life I never appreciated.

Now two months into my masters and at the ripe old age of 25, I feel like it is unacceptable to consider going into the bar at 2pm in the afternoon for three euro cans of cider. What a difference 18 months in the real world has made.

Having graced the big, bad world with my presence for over a year before deciding to go back to do a masters, I was not sure how I would find adapting back to college life. Almost immediately I started comparing it to the undergrad days when everything seemed so carefree and simple.

I felt as though I took my previous four years in college for granted somewhat, and also a bit guilty about the fact I am 25 and back in college living “the good life”. The feeling of guilt is relenting, however, as masters life is a far cry from the good old undergraduate days.

People decide to do a masters for a variety of reasons. Some are pessimistic about their job prospects after their undergraduate degree and feel the need for an extra qualification. Others realise they do not like working in the area they graduated from and thus pursue a masters in an area they will enjoy; and then there are people who  love studying and inflicting academic torture upon themselves!

The majority of people I was in college with had such high hopes and expectations about what their lives would be like once they left college, but as many graduates find out the hard way - reality bites. Some people enjoyed studying their undergrad degree but soon find out they do not enjoy working in the area that they dedicated four years of their lives studying for.

I find that some masters’ students, I included, are a bit more on the anxious side than our undergraduate colleagues. Our previous academic and working world experiences have made us fearful and a bit cynical. In certain cases, a masters is the last chance saloon for getting a job that you will love working in. But what if I end up not loving it? What if I am actually not as good as I thought I was? These nagging fears will continue to linger until we land a job that will either confirm or dismiss these anxious thoughts.

Aside from bouts of midweek sessions in the college bar not being possible any more (well, once in a blue moon they are, but not every week like the undergrad days), there are other striking differences between the life of a master’s student and that of an undergrad student.

At the beginning of the semester, a bank employee approached me, assuming I was a gullible first year. She informed me about the great deal they had on offer for new students: “if you set up a bank account with us today, you get €100”. When I advised her that I was a master’s student, the enthusiasm became a lot less obvious as she informed me I would qualify for a free portable charger if I signed up. Thanks, but no thanks.

I also remember the first week of term always being relatively easy going when I was an undergrad. Lectures finished early and mostly involved looking at a Powerpoint presentation about the work you will be doing over the course of the next twelve weeks (and which you weren’t expected to be doing in week one). The first week of a masters, on the other hand, replaces spoon feeding with the wooden spoon. Lecturers try to put the fear of God into you and throw you into the deep end of the college pool with no armbands to see if you sink or swim.

“This is not an assignment you can leave until the night before” was an urban myth in the undergrad days. When lecturers say this to masters’ students however, they are actually not joking. The amount of work and research that is expected to go into your assignments is increased tenfold and the standard of work you produce is under more scrutiny as you are now viewed as an adult who has an undergrad behind them, not an innocent little teenager fresh out of the Leaving Cert.

One year of a degree is  a lot more jam packed than a degree spread over the course of three or four years, so it is always going to be more demanding and challenging.

I am not complaining about the hard work expected as a masters student, that is guaranteed, the best advice is for undergrad students to make the most of their college experience while they can, because if you decide to do a masters or venture into the big, bad real world, it is not going to be all free pizza and three euro cans of cider!